Isabella Clara Eugenia. Isabella Clara Eugenia was sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands in the Low Countries and the north of modern France, together with her husband Albert VII, Archduke of Austria.
In some sources, she is referred to as Clara Isabella Eugenia. By birth, she was an infanta of Spain and Portugal.
Isabella Clara Eugenia of Austria was born in the Palacio del bosque de Valsaín, Segovia on 12 August 1566, daughter of Philip II of Spain and his third wife Elisabeth of Valois. Her father, Philip II, was reportedly overjoyed at her birth and declared himself to be happier on the occasion than he would have been at the birth of a son.
Philip already had a male heir, Carlos, Prince of Asturias, the child of his first marriage to Maria Manuela, Princess of Portugal; however, father and son had never developed a close rapport and frequently lived in conflict with one another. Isabella's mother had originally been betrothed to Don Carlos, but political complications unexpectedly necessitated her marriage to Philip instead.
Despite the significant age difference between them, Philip was very attached to Elisabeth, staying close by her side even when she was ill with smallpox. Elisabeth's first pregnancy in 1564 ended in a miscarriage of twin daughters. She later gave birth to Isabella Clara Eugenia on 12 August 1566, and then to Isabella's younger sister Catherine Michelle 10 October 1567. Elisab